1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to optical devices for visually gauging the location of moving objects in relation to other stationary objects. More particularly, it relates to improvements to umpires' masks worn by baseball umpires when calling strikes and balls behind home plate, and yet more particularly to an optical device attached to such mask to assist an umpire in gauging pitched balls in relation to a batter's strike zone.
2. Description of Related Art
In the popular sport of baseball, the chief officiating referee, or umpire, typically stands or crouches directly behind the catcher where he can best view a pitched ball as it crosses home plate. For the ball to be a strike, it must penetrate the batter's individual strike zone lying in a plane normal to a straight line between the pitcher's mound and home plate. The strike zone is defined as a rectangular section of that plane suspended directly above and exactly as wide as home plate and having as its top and bottom limits a horizontal projection of the batter's shoulder and knee elevations. Obviously, the strike zone elevation and vertical height varies with each batter while its width remains constant.
The umpire currently must mentally envision the strike zone for each batter and carefully compare the baseball's position in relation to the imagined rectangular zone as the ball crosses home plate. Likewise, the pitcher imagines the strike zone and tries to penetrate it with the ball while trying to fool the batter into thinking he has missed it and foregoing a swing, thereby counting a strike against the batter when the umpire calls the pitch a strike. Though the umpire's judgment as to called strikes is traditionally final, it is subject to second guessing, disagreement and suggestions for vision improvements for the umpire by disgruntled spectators and players alike. An optical device to assist the umpire in making his call not only would lend a desirable element of precision to his assessment, but it would greatly reduce the propensity of others to presume upon his authority and to disagree with his call.
Numerous optical devices worn on a user's head have been offered to assist in performing sports, but, oddly enough, I have found none devised for an umpire. For example, Conrose, U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,151, provides a pair of spectacles which assists a golfer with putt alignment by providing a horizontal line scored onto the back of one or both lenses behind a mirrored concave ridge on the front of the lenses. Vertical lines also on the lens help gauge club alignment, and Conrose suggests a baseball application whereby the pitcher may use the lines to visualize the batter's strike zone. Being permanently scored onto spectacle lenses, of course, Conrose's device does not permit adjustment of the image, a highly desirable feature to an umpire using it behind home plate, where visual variations in size of the strike zone are significantly more apparent than to a pitcher as much as sixty feet away.